Lincoln Beachey Stunt Flying over San Francisco, California, circa 1915

01

Artifact Overview

Lincoln Beachey is remembered as America's first great stunt flyer. He perfected a series of aerobatic maneuvers -- including spins, dives, spirals, and loops -- and earned fame and fortune by staging heart-stopping exhibition flights for audiences across the country. Beachey died when the wings broke loose from his airplane during a stunt flight over San Francisco Bay in 1915.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

circa 1915

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

81.121.31.11

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 11.125 in
Width: 14 in

Inscriptions

caption: ONCE TOO OFTEN / Lincoln Beachy, late King of the Air, is shown in picture to the left; while his machine "Doing the Loop" is shown in the large picture. Everybody liked Lincoln Beachy and shudders to think that such real fellows take such chances with certain death. The accident happened at the California Fair and was caused by the breaking of the plane while doing his famous dip. He fell in shallow water of the bay and died entangled in the wreck of his machine.